A Brother's Healing Touch
by obliviousworlds
Summary: One Sammy Winchester, plus one bad ear infection, plus one clueless John? You are just asking for trouble. Luckily Dean will be back to make things better. oneshot. No wincest even though it might seem like it. Sam/12 Dean/16


There's only one person he wants.

Only one. The only person that can make this all better. Who will hold him and tell him that it's all gonna be alright and that he's gonna take care of him and make him feel all better again.

Except, that person is off on a hunt with Caleb, and he's not exactly sure when he'll be back. And let's just face it, dad's not very good at dealing with ear infections. At all.

Sam's fine when Dean leaves Tuesday night. He's a little tired but he'd been cracking down on the books lately and just thought it was stress related because, that happens, right? Right.

Wednesday morning, his ear feels like it's full of water, but there isn't any pain. Not yet anyways. He's sluggish around the house, and he's got a headache he just can't shake. Even dad knows things are just gonna get worse when Sam bitches at him all day. He just _knows._

When he wakes up thursday morning, his ear is full on aching to the point it's driving him to tears. He put's his face in his hands and sobs because everytime he swallows, pain blossoms through his ear, and it's driving him crazy.

John's there in an instant. He's palming his little boy's forehead and wincing when he feels heat radiating off his skin. He sees Sam's eyes will with tears as he tugs at his left ear and his heart breaks. Sam really knows how to make someone feel bad when it comes to being sick.

"Don't mess with it," John gently says and lays him back down on the couch in the tiny home he'd rented for a few weeks. He's glad too, because Sam doesn't need to be in a nasty motel room when he's sick.

He digs through the first aid kit until he finds prescription ear drops prescribed to Dean from a last round about from an ear infection. It'll probably work on Sam too.

"Alright, Sammy," John says quietly and kneels down next too the couch and holds the dropper up. "This might make it feel better."

Sam's back to sobbing in the pillow he's laying on. Nothing is gonna make it feel better unless Dean is the one doing it.

"N-no," Sam sobs out and sniffs hard. "D-Dean. W-want D-Dean," He chokes out and slaps his father's hand away before burying his face back into the pillow. Dean knows how to make it feel better, why doesn't he understand that?

That's all it takes for John to get his oldest on the phone in an instant, not being one to like hearing his youngest cry out in pain.

"Yello," Dean answers after the third ring, not suspecting anything being wrong at all.

"Dean? How soon can you make it back?"

That's when he knows something is wrong.

He kicks it into big brother mode. "What's wrong with Sammy?" He asks, and that even makes Caleb give him a worried look.

"Ear infection, I think," John answers and runs a nervous hand through his hair. "He's got a fever, but he's not bent on letting me take care of him. He keeps calling out for you. So I'm gonna ask you again, how long before you can make it back?"

Dean thinks a minute, trying to calculate how far out they are. "Few hours," He answers. "Maybe sooner if Caleb breaks the speed limit. The hunt is finished, so we can make it."

"Alright, good."

"Can he talk to me? Does he want to?"

John rolls his eyes. That's gotta be the dumbest question Dean has ever asked him. Especially when Sam is reaching out for the phone, tears still spilling over his eyes.  
"D-Dean." He cries out when the phone is handed to him and is pressed to his good ear.

"Hey, baby boy," Dean says and sighs of relief when he hears Sam's voice, even if it is filled with pain.

"H-hurts. You m-make it b-better?"

"I'm on my way home, yes I'll make it better. But you need to let dad try and help until I get there, okay?"

"O-okay."

"I love you, Sam."

"L-love you t-too."

He's back to crying again when he hangs up the phone. The aching pulsing through his ear, feeling like his eardrum is gonna explode and making it even impossible for him to even calm down.

John takes a seat next to the couch on the floor and rubs his youngest son's back. He's dealt with plenty of these before, but they've always been with Dean. And even then, they've never hit Dean this hard before. He'd be miserable, but never _this _miserable.

Or so, that's what he thinks.

He blames himself for all of this. He had the boys outside a few days before in the middle of the night at a cemetary doing a simple salt and burn when it started to pour down rain. Sam getting drenched must be the cause for this earache from hell.

"Shhhh," John hushes when Sam starts the painful sobbing all over again.

"H-hurts."

"I know."

After an hour, Sam's stopped the painful crying. He moans every few minutes, but he's being careful to stay absolutely still to avoid any more pain that will surge through him if he moves. No, he feels like he'd rather die than feel it.

John sets a cool wash cloth on his head and sighs. He really wishes Sam would atleast take some tylenol to control the pain, but he knows how painful doing that will be.

"Dean, dad. Where's Dean?" Sam asks after another hour of waiting and crying.

John looks up at the clock and sighs. It's almost midnight.

"Soon, Sammy. Soon." Is all he answers.

Or he hopes, anyways.

Sam falls into a light sleep at about eleven thirty. One of the pillows from the couch pressed tightly over his aching ear, as if trying to block out the pain coursing through it. john's not gonna complain, neither he or Sam had gotten much sleep the past few days.

He wants to cry when he hears the front door open. Dean's home, and he'll _fix _this.

"Dad?" Dean calls out quietly before making his way into the living room, and finding one sick baby brother curled up on the couch, and looking to be asleep.

"He's in and out," John tells him, and hands over the first aid kit. "Been crying for you all night."

Dean smiles a little before going to do his job. The job he loves doing more than anything else. He gently shakes Sam's shoulder, instantly feeling bad when he hears Sam's pitiful moaning, but smiling again when he sees hazel eyes looking up at him.

"D-Dean?"

"Hey, baby boy." Is all Dean has time to say before he has an arm load of little brother, clinging to him.

"Alright, Sammy," He says and fishes through the first aid kit. "Now that I'm here, you've gotta take your medicine, alright?"

Sam nods and takes the tylenol he's handed and takes a quick sip of apple juice from the glass his dad brings to him. He winces when pain flares through his ear, but it's alright because _Dean's _here, and _Dean _will make it all better.

"Alright," He says and puts a pillow in his lap. "Lay down, I'm gonna put some of these drops in your ear."

He waits until Sam does as he's told before setting the dropper into the infected ear and squeezing out a few drops. He grabs Sam's shoulder when he shivers from the coolness of it to keep him still, and then places cotton inside.

"Atta boy," He says and cards his fingers through his little brother's hair. "My poor kid."

John raises his eyebrows, but doesn't say anything.

"Now, I want you to get some sleep, alright?" Dean says and tugs the blanket up over his brother.

"You gonna stay?" Sam asks, and snuggles into the warmth of the blanket.

"Yes. Your head will be on the pillow on my lap."

"All night?"

"All night."

Sam smiles before nodding and closing his eyes. Dean resumes carding his fingers through his hair, and that makes it easier for him to fall asleep. The ache in his ear dulling down under the touch of his big brother, now not even recognizing it. He's asleep within minutes, head still resting in his brother's lap.

John shakes his head and smiles. "How do you...?"

Dean smiles back. "You learn a few tricks or two taking care of kids," He says and checks Sam's fever again, pleased to find it already going down a little.

John feels guilt hit him in the stomach, but he shakes it off when he looks down at Sam sleeping peacefully on his brother. "You sleeping there?"

"Don't got much of a choice," Dean replies and lets his head rest on the back of the couch, letting his eyes close. He opens them when he feels a blanket being tucked around him and smiles up at his dad tiredly.

"Thanks, Dean," He says and scrubs a hand over his face. "You did really good tonight."

Dean beams up at his dad, not used to being praised like this very often. "Thanks."

John turns out the light before leaving the living room, Dean's breathing already evening out into sleep along with Sam's, and that's just the best sound to him in the whole entire world.

His boys were safe, somewhat healthy, and happy. The guilt of being second choice is still there, but he's content with it. The feeling of Sam getting better already easing his mind.

He smiles to himself before heading to bed himself. Dean's back home, and he know's he's the only thing this family will need to stick together.

* * *

Fin :)


End file.
